To All My Fellow Citizens of the United States. Before You Go To The Polls To Vote From This Point Forward Please Think About The Following
There are a lot of things we can improve on however we all love Our Freedoms and Our Rights. In order to protect all of them we have to hold ourselves accountable and responsible. It’s up to all of us to fact check the nominees before voting them into office.
Most of us have cellphones, computers or IPads to
vet the nominees. Almost every one who runs for public office has a Wikipedia page that I have found to be mostly accurate by fact checking against other reputable sources. I also find some Substacks to be credible sources of accurate information such as Robert Reich, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Steve Schmidt (a Former Republican), who founded the Lincoln Project podcast, Steady, Dan Rather and Elliot Kirshner’s Substack, to name a few. I also listen to Podcasts that I have found credible because they fact check before they air or they fact check during their live Podcasts. Some I’ve found credible are Mehdi Hasan, Five Minute News, The MeidasTouch Network, The Young Turks, Mea Culpa, Brian Tyler Cohen, The Daily Beans, The Lincoln Project to name a few.
The once (Grand Old Party) has become the anti democracy party. They prove it every day with their interviews and continued support of the FPOTUS! If each one of us fact check Trump and his flock of sheep you will see just how many of them we have given a license to lie and spread misinformation and disinformation.
If you refuse to take on this responsibility to find out what’s true and what isn’t you might as well reserve your ticket for your seat on Trump’s Caravan of Buses heading to HELL!
Speaking of cognitive decline, I hope people are paying close attention to just how politically inferior Trump is verses President Biden. All you have to do is LISTEN to what each of them is saying. It’s so obvious that one is all about himself while the other is leading his administration in an effort to protect our country and to help ALL Americans not just the ones that voted for him and his team.
We are a labor oriented society that has a problem, no one wants to work. I live in a rural area that supports a multitude of industrial parks. These businesses have loads of signs in front of their offices asking for help but they never are taken down leaving me to think the positions open are never filled. With gas being so expensive and the fact that vehicles are stupidly priced most Americans are opting to work from home when ever possible. The price of cars is a crippling factor in determining the health of our society. If we can't get to work and things are on an ever increasing price rampage people are in that place between a rock and where they don't want to be. Car companies are producing a product the average person can't possibly afford. Who needs a car that parks itself, drives itself, applies the breaks by itself, turns itself off when ever the thing stops even for a second, and because of all these advanced "improvements" has been priced beyond the reach of most Americans. When I was 17 my dad took me up to Dean Sellers Ford in Detroit and brought me a brand new Mustang 2plus2 fastback, out the door it ran $2,200 and it was the best car I've ever owned. Back then people got new cars every other year or sooner. Why has that time left us? What has changed that rendered onto us all such a financial cesspool? Its not just cars it everything from tennis shoes to a can of Campbell's soup. Inflation is treating our country like a balloon, how long until it pops? If you ask me our entire economy is on drugs. How about another interest hike.
Have you seen what the big 3 CEOs are making as a yearly salary. And you wonder why Americans can’t afford a new car! The billionaires aren’t complaining. I wonder why!
I can give you a number. 20% Right now 90% of all profit and productivity gains goes to 1% of the population. If there was equality than the different groups poor 20%, middle class 20%, upper middle class 20% rich 20%, very rich 20%.
What do we doll out now? Poor, Middle, upper middle roughly the bottom 60% of earners share a fraction of 1%. While 10% share 99% of all. That is greed agregious and attrocius 99% on one side.
Greed starts when you have way too much and still seek more. It's at the expense of others. Workers being paid are not greedy. They simply want to build a decent life, and they are being paid for their labor, labor which is essential to the creation of the things that they make. A fair deal is not greed. Acquiring a huge fortune you sit on and amass power and wealth at the expense of workers and insisting you should still get more is greedy.
If people don't want the job, increase the salary and show workers a bit of respect. My understanding is there are three critical factors around work. A decent salary, a modicum of respect, and some control over the schedule (some workers are forced to be on call all the time so can never relax, forced to work double-shifts, forced to work on public holidays ,night shifts but never offered daycare for their kids).
I want what my parents had. A paycheck that could feed, clothe, and house 6 kids while still allowing a vacation. Nothing fancy, mind you, but those one week vacations just being in the mountains of Northern New Mexico are my fondest memories. Those are memories I was unable to give my own children and it saddens me. A pension that will let me retire as my body breaks down after a lifetime of often working on my feet for eight to ten hours and abusing my body because I couldn't afford the right kind of shoes or whatever. I'm faced with that now. I had 2 jobs that gave 401ks and I lost half of it on the one I actually had any money in. And I got that when I was too old for it to make a difference. Growing up, we were able to go to the doctor when we needed because we had health insurance. By the way, it was my father's union job that gave us most of it. My mother was a department head, aka supervisor, at a small department store. Even then, she had a pension plan and healthcare.
Paulahik: You were 'living the American Dream' which is no longer working.
I thank you for writing this it's such a thoughtful comment.
I do not live in the US (we did for 23yrs but got out when GW Bush got in) we now live in France where we are able to live our old lives with healthcare and every Town has a place for the elderly.
I wish that Americans could see what is going on in their Country BUT they do NOT.
NO person in the Gvt. is on your side.
Please take to heart my empathy for you and really think about who you are voting for if you do.
...for many years I have been watching what is happening and it's getting to the point that want out. as I've come to the realisation there is little hope for this nation. I've been politically, active for years particularly so since my retirement but it is starting to burn me out as I feel I'm only speaking to the choir while banging my head against a stone wall of ignorance.
Neither party here seems committed to working for the people anymore (even though one still claims it does) as in the end both drink from the same big money spigot. Most seniors and the disabled end up living in poverty, and one of those two parties wants to make that situation even worse.
I so much would like to leave this all behind and have a chance to actually enjoy the remaining years in some small quiet town in Portugal or southeast Spain, but sadly it costs a lot to make such a move and settle in, something impossible on my meager SS income.
Terry--We have a problem. Everyone wants more money and with the ever increasing income levels so go the prices of everyday goods. Its a never ending cycle that has no answer as to how to control any aspect of the whirl wind.
You are correct Donald. You can build a cycle where people want more pay which increases prices which forces people to demand more pay or slip backwards. While correct, there are two important factors.
1) The employees where I worked increases productivity by over 20% but did not get a quarter of that as a bump in pay. On average, workers hover around inflation over the last few decades while managers and shareholders soar on the sweaty backs of those workers. How about we pay people for the work they do including their productivity gains. Increasing pay for more productive workers does not increase inflation.
2) Notice the argument is a double standard. When Disney's CEO went from 50 million to over 500 million in compensation, no one was talking about inflation caused by increasing compensation levels. Was the CEO working an 80 hour day to explain the 10x increase? The test of parallelism is most revealing in exposing selective rhetoric.
...tell me about it, I barely make it month to month on my meagre SS benefit which is my only source of income (no savings, no 401k). My rent (in what is classified as a federally subsidized low income studio apartment) is 47% of my monthly income. Thanks to higher grocery prices my monthly food benefit now peter's out about halfway into the month after which shopping comes out of pocket. I rarely put the heat on in winter to try and keep the power bill down and turned down a free AC unit for the same reason.
No more company pensions, not severance, not even a gold plated Rolex knockoff or party anymore when you retire. All I got was compensation for the two weeks of vacation time I didn't use and I felt lucky to get that.
People have become a disposable commodity as evidenced by the name change from "Personnel/Employment Office to "Human Resources". That's what we've become, a resource to be used up and tossed aside when it no longer served a purpose.
Terry--A terrible lesson producers have learned is the public will pay what ever you charge as long as it is within reason, but then whose reason are we talking about.
That's true. The biggest problem is, though, that the CEOs are the ones getting all the raises. If workers were getting a fair portion of that, they wouldn't be so pissed off. Do you read Mr Reich's work at all on a regular basis. He had talked about the widening gap between what the average worker makes and what the executives make and why that's happening. He's talked about corporate greed raising prices beyond their own employees' ability to pay for necessities. They make record profits while the workers' wages stay stagnant. They are making all that only because of the workers!! Workers are just reminding the corporations who actual does all the work that makes them that money. Without us, they will go under. We aren't parasites sucking off the corporate body without giving in return. We're the healthy cells that keep that body going. Without workers, the corporate body is just left with the cancerous CEOs, owners, executives, and shareholders. Those are the real life suckers of a company. If your only job is to buy and make money off the labor of others, you should remember not to strangle those who are doing that labor or you end up strangling yourself. Without us workers, corporations and their overlords are nothing. I think workers are just trying to remind the life-suckers of that.
paulahik--What is a fair share? How many of these destitute people still smoke cigarettes and at what cost. How many use drugs or drink alcohol. How many spend money beyond their means? How many have a lotto habit? There are a ton of factors that deplete a persons level of wealth. "Take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves."
How many of those rich farts smoke cigarettes or cigars or drink expensive booze? Are they more worthy in your eyes? By the way, I don't smoke, don't drink, don't get high and still don't have enough to pay for everything I need, much less for what I want. So where's your self-righteousness land on that?
Mary--If the Big three had invested the same time and effort into increasing the efficiency of the internal combustion engine as the did with equipping vehicles with glorified extras we might not be in the predicament where we currently find ourselves.
It appears the car makers have done all that can be done to maximize the performance of the internal combustion engine. This is exemplified by the fact that the thing has to be shut down at a stop to maximize mileage.
But wages have been stagnant while inflation has soared. So wages aren't the reason for the current runaway inflation (which is finally slowing), profits and greed are.
I remember reading a study a few years back that said every 10% in average wage increases only causes a 1% increase in inflation, or something similar. I don't exactly remember the numbers, but I do remember that up until a certain point, wages had very little effect on inflation. (Large, sudden jumps in average pay do show significant increase in inflation.)
You MUST ask yourself this vital question: WHY do people not want to work? Answer: they were pampered during the pandemic and awakened to the fact that they ARE the economy!
In short, they now KNOW they should be getting more than the crumbs the 99% toss to the floor; they are ANGRY AND ENERGIZED!
Also--people are working! Everything is running because people are doing a ton of work in America! And they don't have the things workers in similar but even poorer countries have like job security, healthcare, retirement, paid sick days, paid vacation.
Daniel--There is a myriad of reasons why people choose not to work, I think its not so much that they don't want to, its just they want to do it from home. But your point about being pampered, it has a ring to it.
I heard one of the striking workers during an interview say "the employees of our company can't even afford to buy the car that we produce." If the striking workers want a wage scale that will allow them to afford the cars they're producing they are asking for too much. The price of a new vehicle today with insurance is beyond what people can possibly afford. We have to get car companies to down grade the products they're producing. Get rid of all the frills and extras, give me what was made during the 60s. I need transportation from point "A" to point "B" not a magic carpet ride. Steppenwolf, 1968.
We have an international market for cars. Cars today are much safer than in the 1960s. My Buick GS 400, $3,000 in 1967 offered 13 PMG, My Prius Prime Plug in, $30,000 used in 2020, offers 25 miles on a charge and 55 MPG thereafter, plus a back up camera, front looking radar, lane control, blind spot indicator, tire pressure readings, a better stereo, GPS, etc.
Gerald--If you need more safety features beyond a good set of breaks some bright lights and a loud horn you don't beyond on the road. OK, I'll throw in an air bag or two.
Gerald--Look at the self drive feature for example. How much did that little bit of technology add to the over all price of the vehicle? When the idiot behind the wheel sat there slapping this thighs and clapping his hands all the while knowing he paid through the teeth to get something he could have done by himself for free. Stupidity created by every car company that was silly enough to incorporate that feature into any of their vehicles. They could have taken that investment and given their employees a higher pay scale. Then where we be without a good reason to strike.
Donald, I agree in part. But the safety enhancements help prevent stupid mistakes, like when backing up in a parking lot, missing a car in your blind spot, or backing up over a trash can in the driveway. I am willing to pay extra for these enhancements, but have kept my 2011 Toyota. I am pleased with the new technologies car manufacturers offer. My best car is a Hyundai Ionic.
Mary--They are producing vehicles that are equipped with features that are just not needed. We need to reduce the cost down to a lever where normal people begin to frequent automobile show rooms once again.
This is only a sign of almost full employment. It is not that people don't want to work. There are fewer workers and those workers do not want to work for slave wages.
Mary--In the world of statistics when someone hasn't worked for a long enough period, they fall off the list of the unemployed and are considered invisible. Yes we are being told unemployment is a a very low level but how many invisible people does that include. The jobs that are available entail work many Americans don't want to do.
I don’t understand why no one wants to work; I found great purpose and fulfillment in working in healthcare that was at that time much more care than profit motive. What are the barriers to work that”Steve....” speak of? I do understand the nature of work has changed a great deal, and perhaps those barriers explain the statement?
I think we have seen what happens when everything is done for you. Give your kids chores and make them work when they are old enough. Make them get a job and have some responsibility along with self worth.
The problem I see here is "make". I did give my children chores but I didn't make them do them. I paid them and they had money to spend when we went shopping. If they didn't do their chores, they didn't have money and couldn't buy anything. They are excellent workers who set goals for themselves and accomplish them. This is called discipline. They internalized the good habit.
BS! People want to work. They just refuse to become slaves. They're angry that the corporations make so much money off our backs, with the CEOs playing golf, sailing on yachts, touring the world, in short, living off the fruits of OUR labor, not theirs. Without us, those CEOs and corporate demigods have and are nothing. They vilify the working class just as you do, saying we're "lazy" when the opposite is true. They live a lazy life, using the majority of the money made off our labor while they give us a pittance that doesn't even pay our rent. We're ANGRY that we stare homelessness in the face every. Single. Day. Even as we work our guts out and have to ignore out families. We're ANGRY that our children are having to raise themselves because Mom and/or Dad have to work so much they are barely home. Workers aren't lazy. We're angry and we're getting angrier. Much like the French peasants did about the time of Bastille Day. And we don't even have the cake to eat.
paulahik--To me, and I'm nobody, you're spending far too much time comparing yourself to others. If you look at what others have and what you don't you'll never be happy. I'm not rich and I could care less about what the wealthy do with their time or what the possess. I'm my own person, my life is of my own making, if I become a nothing it because I wanted my life to be that way.
It's not that no one wants to work, it's that no one wants a job that pays so little it's not worth taking it. Yes inflation is bad but it's because of the monopolies that can raise prices with impunity.
Alan --When I was in my 30s I worked fulltime for Sears, and I also had two part time jobs to boot. I worked 80 a week in total. Between the three efforts I made enough to get by and raise my 3 children. Never once did I ever think I should be earning more money for the work I was doing. I had no real skills and the position I was in was of my own making and I accepted it. In life if you want to be paid more you first must be worth more. Getting an education and obtaining a skill was something that society left up to my own discretion. What I made of myself was something that was left up to me.
If a federal law were to be passed that restricts sales of oil-gasoline produced in the USA to the USA market, then the price of automotive fuel would be manageable and truly reflect local conditions. As soon as Exxon and the rest are prohibited from selling oil and gas overseas, the domestic market’s consumers will benefit.
Stan--How do we justify the decision to force big oil companies to sell their products only to designated customers. That's a kick in the butt to free enterprise. However, push comes to shove your thought has merit.
Unfortunately for all of us, the big corporations not only set the wages (when unions are so scarce) they also set prices. Just watch: despite making record profits on their overpriced cars, the big 3 will jack up the prices and blame it on the higher pay demanded by the workers.
We are a “Capital” oriented society. How else can this disparity between capital and labor be explained? Capital doesn’t exist without labor. Success of all members of a society doesn’t exist without collaboration, cooperation, participation, and agreed upon levels of fairness and equity, between capital and labor. Separately, “socialism” has value, as does capitalism, when not unfettered without bounds (Libraries, Fire/Police Departments, etc.)
“ In 2021, the ratio of CEO-to-typical-worker compensation was 399-to-1 under the realized measure of CEO pay; that is up from 366-to-1 in 2020 and a big increase from 20-to-1 in 1965 and 59-to-1 in 1989. CEOs are even making a lot more than other very high earners (wage earners in the top 0.1%)—almost seven times as much. From 1978 to 2021, CEO pay based on realized compensation grew by 1,460%, far outstripping S&P stock market growth (1,063%) and top 0.1% earnings growth (which was 385% between 1978 and 2020, according to the latest data available). In contrast, compensation of the typical worker grew by just 18.1% from 1978 to 2021.
Papa--If we as a society are looking to find a form of equality between labor and ownership don't hold your breath. It's an out of balance relationship that is tumultuous at best. One can't exist without the other but respect between the two in out the window. We need a fix.
As we see from their recent statements in negotiating with their unions, the major car companies have been taken over by people whose only concern is maximum profit and maximum compensation for their executives and investors. They are unable to see that building regular, reliable cars for regular, reliable people might be a solid source of profit for them. It's almost as if the auto executives have their identities tied up with having the brightest, shiniest, highest technology, most expensive new models (the way some of our friends and neighbors once did), and "keeping up with the Jones's" - other car companies - is far more important to them than doing anything that makes sense for society, their workers, or the planet.
A new Mustang today is much safer, more reliable, and will last for much longer if you take care of it. A used one for 10 grand is a better car than a new one from the 60s or 70s IMHO.
Tim--Your opinion. Try doing your own tune-up. I did as a kid and I enjoyed opening the hood and actually seeing the engine along with the ground beneath it. It was a simpler time, and a better way of life.
I, too, listen to many of the people/groups you've mentioned. My favorites are Mehdi Hasan, which my son got me on, MeidasTouch, Young Turks, Brian Tyler Cohen, and Lincoln Project. I also have fact checked them to make sure they're worth listening to and have found them to be accurate. I might suggest you also try Beau of the Fifth. I watch him on YouTube, but I think he has a podcast, too. Beau is very down-to-earth and fact based and is very thought provoking.
Well send. That is way I have just created a website to help people understand how the government works and way their informed vote is so important. With effort we the people can take back the government.
I have gone a step further and am creating an on-line business that helps potential voters and current voters learn about the three branches of the US government. It is nonpartisan, factual information and education. Hopefully the website will help people know who they are voting for and why their vote is so important to create positive change.
Great. If our states enacted open primaries, a majority of voters could select the top two candidates, replacing candidates nominated by a minority of voters from the far right and left.
Almost finished with the website. I am Boot Strapping this business and taking a little longer than I thought. The more I have learned the big it all gets.
This is a National site for now. Maybe later cover the states.
Unfortunately most of the middle class has become ignorant about how economies work and therefore take the easiest way out, by blaming the President, rather than looking at the richest Americans and Corporations and THEIR profit margins. If we don't wake up soon and make some major adjustments our "democracy" will be lost...
To All My Fellow Citizens of the United States. Before You Go To The Polls To Vote From This Point Forward Please Think About The Following
There are a lot of things we can improve on however we all love Our Freedoms and Our Rights. In order to protect all of them we have to hold ourselves accountable and responsible. It’s up to all of us to fact check the nominees before voting them into office.
Most of us have cellphones, computers or IPads to
vet the nominees. Almost every one who runs for public office has a Wikipedia page that I have found to be mostly accurate by fact checking against other reputable sources. I also find some Substacks to be credible sources of accurate information such as Robert Reich, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Steve Schmidt (a Former Republican), who founded the Lincoln Project podcast, Steady, Dan Rather and Elliot Kirshner’s Substack, to name a few. I also listen to Podcasts that I have found credible because they fact check before they air or they fact check during their live Podcasts. Some I’ve found credible are Mehdi Hasan, Five Minute News, The MeidasTouch Network, The Young Turks, Mea Culpa, Brian Tyler Cohen, The Daily Beans, The Lincoln Project to name a few.
The once (Grand Old Party) has become the anti democracy party. They prove it every day with their interviews and continued support of the FPOTUS! If each one of us fact check Trump and his flock of sheep you will see just how many of them we have given a license to lie and spread misinformation and disinformation.
If you refuse to take on this responsibility to find out what’s true and what isn’t you might as well reserve your ticket for your seat on Trump’s Caravan of Buses heading to HELL!
Speaking of cognitive decline, I hope people are paying close attention to just how politically inferior Trump is verses President Biden. All you have to do is LISTEN to what each of them is saying. It’s so obvious that one is all about himself while the other is leading his administration in an effort to protect our country and to help ALL Americans not just the ones that voted for him and his team.
We are a labor oriented society that has a problem, no one wants to work. I live in a rural area that supports a multitude of industrial parks. These businesses have loads of signs in front of their offices asking for help but they never are taken down leaving me to think the positions open are never filled. With gas being so expensive and the fact that vehicles are stupidly priced most Americans are opting to work from home when ever possible. The price of cars is a crippling factor in determining the health of our society. If we can't get to work and things are on an ever increasing price rampage people are in that place between a rock and where they don't want to be. Car companies are producing a product the average person can't possibly afford. Who needs a car that parks itself, drives itself, applies the breaks by itself, turns itself off when ever the thing stops even for a second, and because of all these advanced "improvements" has been priced beyond the reach of most Americans. When I was 17 my dad took me up to Dean Sellers Ford in Detroit and brought me a brand new Mustang 2plus2 fastback, out the door it ran $2,200 and it was the best car I've ever owned. Back then people got new cars every other year or sooner. Why has that time left us? What has changed that rendered onto us all such a financial cesspool? Its not just cars it everything from tennis shoes to a can of Campbell's soup. Inflation is treating our country like a balloon, how long until it pops? If you ask me our entire economy is on drugs. How about another interest hike.
Have you seen what the big 3 CEOs are making as a yearly salary. And you wonder why Americans can’t afford a new car! The billionaires aren’t complaining. I wonder why!
Keith--I've seen and I've heard and it doesn't excuse the reasoning behind their greed.
Whose greed? Because your previous post makes it sound like you're talking about worker's desire to make a decent living wage as "greed."
paulahik--Define a decent living wage in dollars for me, its a number that elude me. There is greed on both sides.
I can give you a number. 20% Right now 90% of all profit and productivity gains goes to 1% of the population. If there was equality than the different groups poor 20%, middle class 20%, upper middle class 20% rich 20%, very rich 20%.
What do we doll out now? Poor, Middle, upper middle roughly the bottom 60% of earners share a fraction of 1%. While 10% share 99% of all. That is greed agregious and attrocius 99% on one side.
Greed starts when you have way too much and still seek more. It's at the expense of others. Workers being paid are not greedy. They simply want to build a decent life, and they are being paid for their labor, labor which is essential to the creation of the things that they make. A fair deal is not greed. Acquiring a huge fortune you sit on and amass power and wealth at the expense of workers and insisting you should still get more is greedy.
If people don't want the job, increase the salary and show workers a bit of respect. My understanding is there are three critical factors around work. A decent salary, a modicum of respect, and some control over the schedule (some workers are forced to be on call all the time so can never relax, forced to work double-shifts, forced to work on public holidays ,night shifts but never offered daycare for their kids).
Healthcare and decent holidays
I want what my parents had. A paycheck that could feed, clothe, and house 6 kids while still allowing a vacation. Nothing fancy, mind you, but those one week vacations just being in the mountains of Northern New Mexico are my fondest memories. Those are memories I was unable to give my own children and it saddens me. A pension that will let me retire as my body breaks down after a lifetime of often working on my feet for eight to ten hours and abusing my body because I couldn't afford the right kind of shoes or whatever. I'm faced with that now. I had 2 jobs that gave 401ks and I lost half of it on the one I actually had any money in. And I got that when I was too old for it to make a difference. Growing up, we were able to go to the doctor when we needed because we had health insurance. By the way, it was my father's union job that gave us most of it. My mother was a department head, aka supervisor, at a small department store. Even then, she had a pension plan and healthcare.
Paulahik: You were 'living the American Dream' which is no longer working.
I thank you for writing this it's such a thoughtful comment.
I do not live in the US (we did for 23yrs but got out when GW Bush got in) we now live in France where we are able to live our old lives with healthcare and every Town has a place for the elderly.
I wish that Americans could see what is going on in their Country BUT they do NOT.
NO person in the Gvt. is on your side.
Please take to heart my empathy for you and really think about who you are voting for if you do.
We've thought of moving to Germany. My son works for a German company.
...for many years I have been watching what is happening and it's getting to the point that want out. as I've come to the realisation there is little hope for this nation. I've been politically, active for years particularly so since my retirement but it is starting to burn me out as I feel I'm only speaking to the choir while banging my head against a stone wall of ignorance.
Neither party here seems committed to working for the people anymore (even though one still claims it does) as in the end both drink from the same big money spigot. Most seniors and the disabled end up living in poverty, and one of those two parties wants to make that situation even worse.
I so much would like to leave this all behind and have a chance to actually enjoy the remaining years in some small quiet town in Portugal or southeast Spain, but sadly it costs a lot to make such a move and settle in, something impossible on my meager SS income.
Terry--We have a problem. Everyone wants more money and with the ever increasing income levels so go the prices of everyday goods. Its a never ending cycle that has no answer as to how to control any aspect of the whirl wind.
You are correct Donald. You can build a cycle where people want more pay which increases prices which forces people to demand more pay or slip backwards. While correct, there are two important factors.
1) The employees where I worked increases productivity by over 20% but did not get a quarter of that as a bump in pay. On average, workers hover around inflation over the last few decades while managers and shareholders soar on the sweaty backs of those workers. How about we pay people for the work they do including their productivity gains. Increasing pay for more productive workers does not increase inflation.
2) Notice the argument is a double standard. When Disney's CEO went from 50 million to over 500 million in compensation, no one was talking about inflation caused by increasing compensation levels. Was the CEO working an 80 hour day to explain the 10x increase? The test of parallelism is most revealing in exposing selective rhetoric.
You have no social help to fall back on if things get tough.
Greed has been the US motto for years.
...tell me about it, I barely make it month to month on my meagre SS benefit which is my only source of income (no savings, no 401k). My rent (in what is classified as a federally subsidized low income studio apartment) is 47% of my monthly income. Thanks to higher grocery prices my monthly food benefit now peter's out about halfway into the month after which shopping comes out of pocket. I rarely put the heat on in winter to try and keep the power bill down and turned down a free AC unit for the same reason.
No more company pensions, not severance, not even a gold plated Rolex knockoff or party anymore when you retire. All I got was compensation for the two weeks of vacation time I didn't use and I felt lucky to get that.
People have become a disposable commodity as evidenced by the name change from "Personnel/Employment Office to "Human Resources". That's what we've become, a resource to be used up and tossed aside when it no longer served a purpose.
Greed in the upper echelon. They're the ones who own lots of stock and make enough money to buy their own islands.
Terry--A terrible lesson producers have learned is the public will pay what ever you charge as long as it is within reason, but then whose reason are we talking about.
That's true. The biggest problem is, though, that the CEOs are the ones getting all the raises. If workers were getting a fair portion of that, they wouldn't be so pissed off. Do you read Mr Reich's work at all on a regular basis. He had talked about the widening gap between what the average worker makes and what the executives make and why that's happening. He's talked about corporate greed raising prices beyond their own employees' ability to pay for necessities. They make record profits while the workers' wages stay stagnant. They are making all that only because of the workers!! Workers are just reminding the corporations who actual does all the work that makes them that money. Without us, they will go under. We aren't parasites sucking off the corporate body without giving in return. We're the healthy cells that keep that body going. Without workers, the corporate body is just left with the cancerous CEOs, owners, executives, and shareholders. Those are the real life suckers of a company. If your only job is to buy and make money off the labor of others, you should remember not to strangle those who are doing that labor or you end up strangling yourself. Without us workers, corporations and their overlords are nothing. I think workers are just trying to remind the life-suckers of that.
paulahik--What is a fair share? How many of these destitute people still smoke cigarettes and at what cost. How many use drugs or drink alcohol. How many spend money beyond their means? How many have a lotto habit? There are a ton of factors that deplete a persons level of wealth. "Take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves."
How many of those rich farts smoke cigarettes or cigars or drink expensive booze? Are they more worthy in your eyes? By the way, I don't smoke, don't drink, don't get high and still don't have enough to pay for everything I need, much less for what I want. So where's your self-righteousness land on that?
Or "Take care of the workers and the profits will take care of themselves"
Paulahik.
People in devastating circumstances do things like drink/smoke/drugs etc because they are in despair. Yes and Lotto too.
You have been brought up with propaganda which says: The American Dream means you can have it all.
As you have seen it doesn't work that way?
perhaps CEOs and higher up employees need to pay themselves less. https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-51332811 Dan Price decided to pay all his employees $70k per year and reduced his salary to $70k as well. Here's what happened during the pandemic. https://boingboing.net/2021/01/24/whatever-happened-to-the-company-that-decided-to-pay-all-of-its-employees-a-70k-minimum-wage.html
Mary--If the Big three had invested the same time and effort into increasing the efficiency of the internal combustion engine as the did with equipping vehicles with glorified extras we might not be in the predicament where we currently find ourselves.
It appears the car makers have done all that can be done to maximize the performance of the internal combustion engine. This is exemplified by the fact that the thing has to be shut down at a stop to maximize mileage.
You live in a Country where the culture is money....what do you expect?
Jennifer--A little common "cents."
But wages have been stagnant while inflation has soared. So wages aren't the reason for the current runaway inflation (which is finally slowing), profits and greed are.
I remember reading a study a few years back that said every 10% in average wage increases only causes a 1% increase in inflation, or something similar. I don't exactly remember the numbers, but I do remember that up until a certain point, wages had very little effect on inflation. (Large, sudden jumps in average pay do show significant increase in inflation.)
Lizard--Wages haven't been stagnant they just haven't kept pace with the rate of inflation. the question remains how do we balance the two.
You MUST ask yourself this vital question: WHY do people not want to work? Answer: they were pampered during the pandemic and awakened to the fact that they ARE the economy!
In short, they now KNOW they should be getting more than the crumbs the 99% toss to the floor; they are ANGRY AND ENERGIZED!
Also--people are working! Everything is running because people are doing a ton of work in America! And they don't have the things workers in similar but even poorer countries have like job security, healthcare, retirement, paid sick days, paid vacation.
Daniel--There is a myriad of reasons why people choose not to work, I think its not so much that they don't want to, its just they want to do it from home. But your point about being pampered, it has a ring to it.
I heard one of the striking workers during an interview say "the employees of our company can't even afford to buy the car that we produce." If the striking workers want a wage scale that will allow them to afford the cars they're producing they are asking for too much. The price of a new vehicle today with insurance is beyond what people can possibly afford. We have to get car companies to down grade the products they're producing. Get rid of all the frills and extras, give me what was made during the 60s. I need transportation from point "A" to point "B" not a magic carpet ride. Steppenwolf, 1968.
That was one of those things that Henry Ford was criticized for; he paid wages high enough that his employees were able to purchase his cars.
Cathie--Smart thinking on Henry's part. He created his own customers.
We have an international market for cars. Cars today are much safer than in the 1960s. My Buick GS 400, $3,000 in 1967 offered 13 PMG, My Prius Prime Plug in, $30,000 used in 2020, offers 25 miles on a charge and 55 MPG thereafter, plus a back up camera, front looking radar, lane control, blind spot indicator, tire pressure readings, a better stereo, GPS, etc.
Gerald--The safety of a vehicle should be determined by the driver not the pricy extras added to your ride.
Gerald--If you need more safety features beyond a good set of breaks some bright lights and a loud horn you don't beyond on the road. OK, I'll throw in an air bag or two.
Donald, you might want to have brakes instead of breaks.
Gerald--Look at the self drive feature for example. How much did that little bit of technology add to the over all price of the vehicle? When the idiot behind the wheel sat there slapping this thighs and clapping his hands all the while knowing he paid through the teeth to get something he could have done by himself for free. Stupidity created by every car company that was silly enough to incorporate that feature into any of their vehicles. They could have taken that investment and given their employees a higher pay scale. Then where we be without a good reason to strike.
Donald, I agree in part. But the safety enhancements help prevent stupid mistakes, like when backing up in a parking lot, missing a car in your blind spot, or backing up over a trash can in the driveway. I am willing to pay extra for these enhancements, but have kept my 2011 Toyota. I am pleased with the new technologies car manufacturers offer. My best car is a Hyundai Ionic.
I found that to be true last time I could afford a new car. Backup cameras begone.
Anyone who ran over a child would beg to differ. I love my backup camera.
Mary--They are producing vehicles that are equipped with features that are just not needed. We need to reduce the cost down to a lever where normal people begin to frequent automobile show rooms once again.
This is only a sign of almost full employment. It is not that people don't want to work. There are fewer workers and those workers do not want to work for slave wages.
Mary--In the world of statistics when someone hasn't worked for a long enough period, they fall off the list of the unemployed and are considered invisible. Yes we are being told unemployment is a a very low level but how many invisible people does that include. The jobs that are available entail work many Americans don't want to do.
Or cannot do because they didn't get the education and/or the training.
Motorbikes, bikes, carpools. But you have a point. I would not say that no one wants to work but there are barriers to work.
steve--No one wants to work--Exaggeration for effect, I think there is a term for that. Those barriers do exist.
I don’t understand why no one wants to work; I found great purpose and fulfillment in working in healthcare that was at that time much more care than profit motive. What are the barriers to work that”Steve....” speak of? I do understand the nature of work has changed a great deal, and perhaps those barriers explain the statement?
Judith--People have gotten lazy. They want things given to them instead of working for it.
I think we have seen what happens when everything is done for you. Give your kids chores and make them work when they are old enough. Make them get a job and have some responsibility along with self worth.
The problem I see here is "make". I did give my children chores but I didn't make them do them. I paid them and they had money to spend when we went shopping. If they didn't do their chores, they didn't have money and couldn't buy anything. They are excellent workers who set goals for themselves and accomplish them. This is called discipline. They internalized the good habit.
How can you have 'self worth' if you are being paid a pittance?
I bought my first car with the gains of my Xerox stock which I bought with earnings from my paper route at age 11-13.
Bet you didn't learn that in school.
Betty--Are you crazy! That was the old way of thinking. What did that line of thought ever give us besides a great country. Good thought young lady.
BS! People want to work. They just refuse to become slaves. They're angry that the corporations make so much money off our backs, with the CEOs playing golf, sailing on yachts, touring the world, in short, living off the fruits of OUR labor, not theirs. Without us, those CEOs and corporate demigods have and are nothing. They vilify the working class just as you do, saying we're "lazy" when the opposite is true. They live a lazy life, using the majority of the money made off our labor while they give us a pittance that doesn't even pay our rent. We're ANGRY that we stare homelessness in the face every. Single. Day. Even as we work our guts out and have to ignore out families. We're ANGRY that our children are having to raise themselves because Mom and/or Dad have to work so much they are barely home. Workers aren't lazy. We're angry and we're getting angrier. Much like the French peasants did about the time of Bastille Day. And we don't even have the cake to eat.
paulahik--To me, and I'm nobody, you're spending far too much time comparing yourself to others. If you look at what others have and what you don't you'll never be happy. I'm not rich and I could care less about what the wealthy do with their time or what the possess. I'm my own person, my life is of my own making, if I become a nothing it because I wanted my life to be that way.
It's not that no one wants to work, it's that no one wants a job that pays so little it's not worth taking it. Yes inflation is bad but it's because of the monopolies that can raise prices with impunity.
Alan --When I was in my 30s I worked fulltime for Sears, and I also had two part time jobs to boot. I worked 80 a week in total. Between the three efforts I made enough to get by and raise my 3 children. Never once did I ever think I should be earning more money for the work I was doing. I had no real skills and the position I was in was of my own making and I accepted it. In life if you want to be paid more you first must be worth more. Getting an education and obtaining a skill was something that society left up to my own discretion. What I made of myself was something that was left up to me.
If a federal law were to be passed that restricts sales of oil-gasoline produced in the USA to the USA market, then the price of automotive fuel would be manageable and truly reflect local conditions. As soon as Exxon and the rest are prohibited from selling oil and gas overseas, the domestic market’s consumers will benefit.
Stan--How do we justify the decision to force big oil companies to sell their products only to designated customers. That's a kick in the butt to free enterprise. However, push comes to shove your thought has merit.
Unfortunately for all of us, the big corporations not only set the wages (when unions are so scarce) they also set prices. Just watch: despite making record profits on their overpriced cars, the big 3 will jack up the prices and blame it on the higher pay demanded by the workers.
Mike--It really doesn't matter what price they put on their vehicles in the future no one can afford them anyway.
We are a “Capital” oriented society. How else can this disparity between capital and labor be explained? Capital doesn’t exist without labor. Success of all members of a society doesn’t exist without collaboration, cooperation, participation, and agreed upon levels of fairness and equity, between capital and labor. Separately, “socialism” has value, as does capitalism, when not unfettered without bounds (Libraries, Fire/Police Departments, etc.)
From the Economic Policy Institute (https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-in-2021/)
“ In 2021, the ratio of CEO-to-typical-worker compensation was 399-to-1 under the realized measure of CEO pay; that is up from 366-to-1 in 2020 and a big increase from 20-to-1 in 1965 and 59-to-1 in 1989. CEOs are even making a lot more than other very high earners (wage earners in the top 0.1%)—almost seven times as much. From 1978 to 2021, CEO pay based on realized compensation grew by 1,460%, far outstripping S&P stock market growth (1,063%) and top 0.1% earnings growth (which was 385% between 1978 and 2020, according to the latest data available). In contrast, compensation of the typical worker grew by just 18.1% from 1978 to 2021.
Papa--If we as a society are looking to find a form of equality between labor and ownership don't hold your breath. It's an out of balance relationship that is tumultuous at best. One can't exist without the other but respect between the two in out the window. We need a fix.
OooRAH
Bill--I don't really know what you mean by what you wrote but it looks cool.
While I agree with much you’ve written, $2,200 then is roughly as much as $17,000 today depending on which online calculator one uses.
Cynthia--I hear ya but the fact remains a new Mustang today will run you at least $50,000.00 That doesn't justify the difference from $17,000.
As we see from their recent statements in negotiating with their unions, the major car companies have been taken over by people whose only concern is maximum profit and maximum compensation for their executives and investors. They are unable to see that building regular, reliable cars for regular, reliable people might be a solid source of profit for them. It's almost as if the auto executives have their identities tied up with having the brightest, shiniest, highest technology, most expensive new models (the way some of our friends and neighbors once did), and "keeping up with the Jones's" - other car companies - is far more important to them than doing anything that makes sense for society, their workers, or the planet.
By current best car is a Hyundai Ionic Hybrid.
Greg--Agreed, but what happens when the cars they build don't sell?
A new Mustang today is much safer, more reliable, and will last for much longer if you take care of it. A used one for 10 grand is a better car than a new one from the 60s or 70s IMHO.
Tim--Your opinion. Try doing your own tune-up. I did as a kid and I enjoyed opening the hood and actually seeing the engine along with the ground beneath it. It was a simpler time, and a better way of life.
Today the value of $3000 is $27,577.19 after inflation.
I’ve found it useful to consult the website of the League of Women voters before I vote.
Thank you for the website . I will check it out.
I, too, listen to many of the people/groups you've mentioned. My favorites are Mehdi Hasan, which my son got me on, MeidasTouch, Young Turks, Brian Tyler Cohen, and Lincoln Project. I also have fact checked them to make sure they're worth listening to and have found them to be accurate. I might suggest you also try Beau of the Fifth. I watch him on YouTube, but I think he has a podcast, too. Beau is very down-to-earth and fact based and is very thought provoking.
Thank you. I found the Podcast and I will give Beau of the Fifth a listen.
Keith Olson: Thom Hartmann and Ralph Nader can be helpful also.
Thanks Carlos. I found their Substacks.
vote early vote early, and tell your friends to vote early. It's how we win.
Well send. That is way I have just created a website to help people understand how the government works and way their informed vote is so important. With effort we the people can take back the government.
I couldn’t agree more with each of your points. I’m just not sure this generation of CEO is about to get a clue.
Thank you Keith!🥰❤️🎶👏🏻🤗
Biden perhaps not as corrupt as Trump.
Maybe people should look at Bidens voting record.
While you have a moneyed voting system nothing will change.
Call on yourself and everyone you know. Get some real, truthful numbers and share them to people that will listen.
I have gone a step further and am creating an on-line business that helps potential voters and current voters learn about the three branches of the US government. It is nonpartisan, factual information and education. Hopefully the website will help people know who they are voting for and why their vote is so important to create positive change.
Great. If our states enacted open primaries, a majority of voters could select the top two candidates, replacing candidates nominated by a minority of voters from the far right and left.
all that stuff exists already. Just sayin.
Yes but it is hard to find. Where can you find your Senators and Representatives, and Justices all together?
Plus, verging opinions from posts (truthful, and nonpartisan).
Center for Political Awareness
Almost finished with the website. I am Boot Strapping this business and taking a little longer than I thought. The more I have learned the big it all gets.
This is a National site for now. Maybe later cover the states.
Thanks for your interest
Unfortunately most of the middle class has become ignorant about how economies work and therefore take the easiest way out, by blaming the President, rather than looking at the richest Americans and Corporations and THEIR profit margins. If we don't wake up soon and make some major adjustments our "democracy" will be lost...